| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Possible scam Thread poster: Bertrand Malingrey
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Hello dear colleagues,
Just a heads up and maybe some of you have had the same, so let's share it.
I received a request though proz today, from someone not logged in and with very little information :
"I am XXX from Everton,UK.I will need the service of an interpreter while i will be coming for a 2days programme in FRANCE. The service would be for duration of 3hours 1pm-4pm daily from Tuesday- thursday, July 8th through July 10th,2010. I would want you t... See more Hello dear colleagues,
Just a heads up and maybe some of you have had the same, so let's share it.
I received a request though proz today, from someone not logged in and with very little information :
"I am XXX from Everton,UK.I will need the service of an interpreter while i will be coming for a 2days programme in FRANCE. The service would be for duration of 3hours 1pm-4pm daily from Tuesday- thursday, July 8th through July 10th,2010. I would want you to get back with the price quote for the services, so i could make deposit payment to reserve this spot for me from your schedule.I will furnish you every necessary further informations needed.
So i replied and asked for the location and the topic.
I just got an answer...
"My topic will be "Positive Strategies Towards Business Development". The exercise will be held in a conference room with a 45-50 man list of Distinguished Personalities.All you will be doing for me is to interpret my speeches from English to France to them.Consecutive interpretation the location is in central Paris. Consecutive interpretation will be okay for such purpose i guess.In case you stay a bit far from the location, include the charge for you accommodation and transportation in your final quotation and do get back to me asap.
I will like you to know that I would have loved to come to your location and pay cash for your services but it will be time consuming and stressful for me, so I want you to know that the only method that will be easy and safe for both of us is to send you an international certified bank Check which you will receive between 2-3 working days and thereafter you can proceed to the bank.
Kindly get back to me with the following information for payment.
Name to be written on the Check
Your full address to send the Check
Phone Number
The end of the email has a sweet taste of Nigerian scam doesn't it ?
He gave me an address which is not a conference centre, thanks google street view.
So I replied politely and professionally
Thank you for your reply. Can you please provide me with your company/business information so I can draft a proper quote ? I'd be interested in knowing who is organising this conference, as I could offer my services to other speakers and bring the costs down for you.
I will indeed have to travel to and stay in Paris, given the concentration and rest required by successive interpreting sessions my usual standard is 4 star hotel in a central location, walking distance from the conference centre - there are plenty of those in the 75001 area. I usually don't include travel/accomodation in my invoices so this will be charged directly to you so you will have to provide them with your credit card details beforehand.
I will arrange everything for this and you'll deal directly with them so your confidential details are not disclosed.
Finally, I do not work with cash, nor international certified bank check, but to spare you the stress of travelling to my location with cash, you can hand me the amount when we meet in Paris, or come with me to the nearest bank and process the payment before we head to the conference room.
Let me know if I can do anything else to help you make this a success.
I'm not expecting an answer, but if anything lands in my inbox i'll let you know.
I wouldn't mind a few nights in a 4 star with a private jaccuzzi, though. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X) 
France
Local time: 07:07
French to German
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| | Nigerian scam | Jun 16, 2010 |
Hi Bertrand,
about a month ago I received a request with exactly the same text but only for an appointment in Germany. On this day my profile had only one visitor coming from Nigeria. So you can safely move this request into the bin.
Hw a nice day,
Anett
[Bearbeitet am 2010-06-16 19:17 GMT]
| | | | | With so many scams... | Jun 16, 2010 |
...from Nigeria, it must be a hard life for an honest Nigerian businessman. People will always be suspicious.
Sorry for the OT.
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| i guessed so ! | Jun 16, 2010 |
Thank you Laurent, Annett and Ricardo
Sorry for not searching thoroughly enough, I only used "scam" in my pre-posting search.
Better safe than sorry, as the link you posted shows some people took the bait.
Any unusual payment method should ring LOUD alarms in any freelancer's head.
Now i'm thinking of investing in a jacuzzi with the money that was not stolen from me
[Edited at 20... See more Thank you Laurent, Annett and Ricardo
Sorry for not searching thoroughly enough, I only used "scam" in my pre-posting search.
Better safe than sorry, as the link you posted shows some people took the bait.
Any unusual payment method should ring LOUD alarms in any freelancer's head.
Now i'm thinking of investing in a jacuzzi with the money that was not stolen from me
[Edited at 2010-06-16 19:35 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-06-16 19:35 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Wiki page started on this subject | Jun 16, 2010 |
A ProZ.com Wiki articles was started on the issue of Detecting and reacting to false job offers and other scams.
You are welcome and encouraged to add to this article to create a resource that will help translators in this subject area.
Kind regards,
Enrique
| | | | David Wright
Austria
Local time: 07:07
German to English
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| They must be working through the premier league | Jun 17, 2010 |
They're from Everton???? No one as far as I know would ever say they'fre from Everton, the place is called Liverpool. I'd love to know if they also come from such exotic places as Aston, Fulham, Burnley ...
| | | | Alison Sabedoria (X)
United Kingdom
French to English
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| I had one, too. | Jun 17, 2010 |
I checked my profile visitors and sure enough, there was one from Laos, Nigeria just before I got the e-mail.
The guy called himself "Dennis Swatch" from Chelsea - oh, dear!
I passed the details on to a couple of scambaiters who enjoy leading these guys up the garden path. There's a large and very active network of them out there. Some of their success stories almost (!) made me feel sorry for the pathetic would-be crimi... See more I checked my profile visitors and sure enough, there was one from Laos, Nigeria just before I got the e-mail.
The guy called himself "Dennis Swatch" from Chelsea - oh, dear!
I passed the details on to a couple of scambaiters who enjoy leading these guys up the garden path. There's a large and very active network of them out there. Some of their success stories almost (!) made me feel sorry for the pathetic would-be criminals.
www.thescambaiter,com
www.419baiter.com
Be very vigilant! ▲ Collapse
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Rutie Eckdish
United States
Local time: 01:07
Hebrew to English
+ ...
| Similar experience | Jun 18, 2010 |
Any time any business volunteers to "deposit money in my account" before even hearing how much it will cost - it makes my skin crawl.
I got a similar mail, and followed up on it, realizing from the start it is a scam. I was amazed how brazen those people are: I kept asking details about the job - and they kept answering with "please let us know your bank account to we CAN DEPOSIT the money...
A variation on the thee is: my agent will contact you
and
I will deposit the mo... See more Any time any business volunteers to "deposit money in my account" before even hearing how much it will cost - it makes my skin crawl.
I got a similar mail, and followed up on it, realizing from the start it is a scam. I was amazed how brazen those people are: I kept asking details about the job - and they kept answering with "please let us know your bank account to we CAN DEPOSIT the money...
A variation on the thee is: my agent will contact you
and
I will deposit the money and if it is more - my agent will contact you to collect the difference.
WOW ▲ Collapse
| | | | Aude Sylvain
France
Local time: 07:07
English to French
+ ...
Wordeffect wrote:
I checked my profile visitors and sure enough, there was one from Laos, Nigeria just before I got the e-mail.
The guy called himself "Dennis Swatch" from Chelsea - oh, dear!
But it seems Dennis Swatch recently turned into Wiess Donard (from Everton UK) and Julie Rio (from the UK). And my profile was also visited by persons from Nigeria just before I received the emails.
| | | | | Swatch again! | Jun 19, 2010 |
I have just received a large cheque from our friend Dennis Swatch, about 12 times the amount for interpreting fees at a putative wedding in Paris. Naturally he asks me to reimburse the difference.
My only concern now is do I send him back his cheque or burn it?!
| | | | silifke63 (X)
Turkish to English
+ ...
| NO SCAM, BUT UNFAIR COMPETITION :) | Jun 19, 2010 |
At least, those who posted comments on this matter were absent in the cut-throat competitive translation industry.
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| Dennis Swatch | Jun 21, 2010 |
I have also just received a large cheque from Dennis Swatch!
I have sent it back to his "Financial representative" - Frank Wollcot at 20 James Street London, which seems to be a sushi bar actually...
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I was nice enough to remove the name of my scamming buddy in my initial posting.
It was Wiess Donard. From Everton, I think he plays midfield.
| | | | | wiess donard money laundering scam ? | Jun 21, 2010 |
i commented yesterday on this forum that Wiess Donard had contacted me via proz proposing 2 hrs work on 7th and 8th June at midday (between 12-14h00). I replied to him with a neutral email asking for more details, precise location of the job etc and recived this reply:
Thank you for your reply. The topic, i will be speaking on is divided into two sections.One on the first day and the other on the second day.There will be a 30minute period for questions and answers on the second day.... See more i commented yesterday on this forum that Wiess Donard had contacted me via proz proposing 2 hrs work on 7th and 8th June at midday (between 12-14h00). I replied to him with a neutral email asking for more details, precise location of the job etc and recived this reply:
Thank you for your reply. The topic, i will be speaking on is divided into two sections.One on the first day and the other on the second day.There will be a 30minute period for questions and answers on the second day.The event is going to take place in (Paris)France and here is the address of the venue: 4 Rue Perrault 75001 Paris FRANCE
My topic will be "Positive Strategies Towards Business Development". The exercise will be held in a conference room with a 45-50 man list of Distinguished Personalities.All you will be doing for me is to interpret my speeches from English to France.Consecutive interpretation will be okay for such purpose i guess.In case you stay a bit far from the location, include the charge for you accommodation and transportation in your final quotation and do get back to me asap.
I will like you to know that I would have loved to come to your location and pay cash for your services but it will be time consuming and stressful for me, so I want you to know that the only method that will be easy and safe for both of us is to send you an international certified bank Check which you will receive between 2-3 working days and thereafter you can proceed to the bank.
Kindly get back to me with the following information for payment.
Name to be written on the Check
Your full address to send the Check
Phone Number
Regards,
Wiess Donard
After reading your comments, I'm pretty sure this is for money laundering purposes so i shall simply say i am no longer available. Thanks to everyone for your warnings as i am a new member of Proz and not quite sure how to navigate on the site, send quotes, obtain payment etc so i don't need further complications! ▲ Collapse
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